Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Yemen Cautiously Welcomes New UN Initiative

Jeddah – Yemen’s Deputy Premier and Foreign Affairs Minister Abdul-Malek al-Mekhlafi said that the new initiative put forward by UN Special Envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed for a political solution in Yemen was unclear.

“We haven’t received any details about it,” Al-Mekhlafi said, describing the initiative as “mere intentions to conceal the failures of the United Nations.”

However, the deputy premier said the legitimate government would consider the proposal should it respect the previous references.

In a phone conversation with Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Mekhlafi said: “The new proposal is an attempt to address the fiasco of the international community, which has failed to put pressure on the coup; it is also a mean to escape forward by talking about a new plan.”

He added: “The information reached confirms that there are no specific lines or ideas so far … but just intentions with which we will deal according to the references,” referring to the outcome of national dialogue, the Gulf Initiative and UN Security Council Resolution 2216.

“The Yemeni government will go in all directions, including the option of basic peace… we will respond to every initiative by the international community. We are working in this framework and this will remain the most important option for the government,” Al-Mekhlafi said.

Commenting on the recent report by the United Nations, which accused the Arab coalition of violating children’s rights in the armed conflict, the foreign minister said: “The Yemeni government has clearly condemned this report. We believe that this statement was unfair and was based on inaccurate and biased information by some UN staff.”

“We call on the United Nations to remove the Yemeni government and the Arab coalition from this report. We maintain communication with the United Nations and we will achieve the desired goal,” the deputy premier said, adding: “Attempts under the pretext of neutrality will be uncovered soon and the truth will be revealed.”